McAuliffe received a B.A. from Framingham State College[?] in 1970 and a Master's in education from Bowie State College[?] in 1978. She taught Social Studies[?] at Concord High School[?] in Concord, New Hampshire, USA.
She was selected to be part of the Shuttle crew as part of the "Teacher in Space" program on July 19, 1985; her official mission job title was payload specialist.
Civilians would not travel aboard the Space Shuttle for many years as a result of the disaster although out of respect for McAuliffe she is officially regarded as the first teacher into space although she never truly made it.